


Bugsnax Ringing Bell

by RoseDragon529



Category: Bugsnax (Video Game), チリンの鈴 | Chirin no Suzu | Ringing Bell (1978)
Genre: Chirin no Suzu but with Bugsnax, Ringing Bell but with Bugsnax
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-15 17:07:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29067771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoseDragon529/pseuds/RoseDragon529
Summary: This is just a rewrite of the movie Chirin no Suzu/Ringing Bell but with Bugsnax instead of normal animals.Sheep: Mewons/Wee MewonsWolf: Preying PicantisGuard dogs: BungersEtcMost of the lines will be taken directly from the movie, with changes to reference them being Bugsnax.Based on the English dub.
Kudos: 6





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is an AU where Bugsnax are like normal animals. 
> 
> Mewons that have offspring are the only ones called Mama Mewons.
> 
> Wild Mewons are far bigger and more dangerous than their domesticated counterparts.

When we are young, we don't know a lot of things. But the small amount of knowledge we do possess makes us happy. Knowing our home, our friends, how to get places, and maybe how to get back. The world is a strange new place, a great puzzle, sights and sounds and smells are its pieces. We see things we know nothing about, things that surprise us, and sometimes sadden us. But as we explore and grow, the time comes that we learn. We learn about the world, and we grow older.

"Here I come! Hi everybody! I'm coming through!"  
A small voice shouted, its owner running through the small crowd of other mewons and wee mewons, chasing a cheepoof.

Our young friend's name is Chirin, he has more energy than all the other wee mewons in the pasture put together. He wears a ringing bell around his neck, and although Chirin likes the sound, it is there to help his mother find him, because he is known for wandering off.

Chirin tumbled into the fence at the border of the valley he called home, being dazed for a moment before seeing a familiar face.

"Mama!" He shouted, running over to her and cuddling into her side.

"Hello Chirin," she said lovingly.

"Did you see my somersault?"

"It was very good."

They cuddled for a moment before the mama mewon continued.

"Chirin, listen to me. I don't want you playing outside the fence."

"Oh? Why not?"

"Chirin, the world can be a dangerous place. If we stay behind the fence, we'll be safe. You see that mountain?" She asked, pointing to a mountain that lay just over a nearby hill.

"A-hah"

"That's where the picantis king lives. And his favorite food is wee mewon."

"Oh yuck! What would he want to eat wee mewon for? Clover tastes much better!" Chirin responded, leaning down and taking a small bite, "and if he ever comes around I'll tell him that!"

"You'll do no such thing, I don't want you ever to go near him."

"Well, he doesn't scare me," Chirin said, before getting startled by a shiskabug that was also eating nearby, hiding under his mother.

"Are you listening?"

"Huh?"

"I don't want you ever going outside that fence."

Unfortunately, Chirin wasn't listening, instead going off to play with the shiskabug. Chirin's mother shook her head with a light-hearted sigh, knowing it would be impossible to get him to fully settle down and listen.

~*~*~

The months passed, as did the brightness of summer. Into the darker tones of autumn. 

Late in the evening, as the bungers were herding the mewons back into the barn, Chirin was so exhausted he could barely keep his eyes open, already having almost gotten lost by taking a nap under a log. He was being carried by his mother behind the rest. He was telling her about the adventures he had that day, and how he was excited to play even more tomorrow. She smiled, looking up at the sky, her expression darkening just a tad when she saw the amount of dark clouds, knowing it'd mean a storm.

'At least,' she thought as she made her way to a divot in the hay that made the mewons' beds, 'the barn will protect us from any dangers.'

She smiled as she fell asleep besides her son, confident they'd be safe.

Hours passed without much of anything being heard, save for the howling of the storm winds, before the sound of the bungers crying out was heard outside, waking all the mewons up. They stared fearfully at the barn door, hearing the sounds of the cries die off one by one, before it was all silence.

The barn door crashed open with a BANG and a burst of wind, letting a picantis walk right inside. The mewons all ran to the back of the barn in a panic, the picantis grabbing one of them and killing it, before setting his sights on Chirin, who was frozen in fear.

"CHIRIN! NOOO!" His mother shouted as she ran to protect him, getting to him just before the picantis struck. Then... Silence.

A while passed before the mewons came out from hiding. The picantis had left, bringing the carcass of the mewon he had killed with him. 

Chirin wiggled out from under his mother, cuddling her with a yawn when he saw her there.

"I knew he wouldn't like wee mewon" he yawned, "I'm glad the picantis is gone because I wanna go back to sleep. Don't you mama?"

Silence.

"Mama?"

Silence.

"What's wrong mama?"

More silence, and the creeping dread that something was terribly, horribly, wrong.

"Why won't you get up? Did the picantis hurt you mama? I learned my lesson I'll stay away from the pica-" Chirin cut himself off when he felt that his mother wasn't as warm as she was a moment ago. "Mama what's wrong? What's wrong?"

The reality of the situation hit him as he began to cry, still trying in vain to wake his mother up. "Mama...? You can't be dead! You just can't be!!!"

Chirin began to wail as he cried out for his mother, trying with all his will to wake her from eternal slumber. All the other mewons stared at him, not a one of them offering any comfort.

The wailing started to die down. "It's not fair," Chirin sniffled.

Chirin couldn't understand what his mother had done to deserve dying at the claws of the picantis king. What did any of the mewons do, for that matter. But the picantis still came and the mewons still died, helpless at the fangs of their enemy. Nature had been unfair to Chirin, and to his mother.

Chirin slowly left his mother's side, approaching the fence that was closest to the mountain. It was now broken, obviously where the picantis had come in from. The other mewons watched from the barn, not a one following after him to see what was in the young wee mewon's mind. With a cry of grief and rage, Chirin ran through the broken portion of fence, charging towards the mountains.


	2. 2

Chirin struggled up the mountain, revenge being the only thing on his mind. He shouted for the picantis, looking around for him, before finally seeing him laying up on a rocky outcrop. Chirin, at first, jumped back in fear, before charging forward with a cry.

"I'm going to kill you! You killed my mother! I'm gonna kill you!"

The picantis just lay there, unaffected by the way the wee mewon tried to headbutt and shove him off the outcrop.

"Oh! I mean it!" Chirin shouted, charging forward and falling back repeatedly. "I hate you!"

The picantis eventually just flicked him off, causing him to fall down into a rocky pit.

"You killed my mother! You killed her!!!" The wee mewon shouted as he fell, falling unconscious when he hit the bottom.

The next morning, as the picantis sat by a small pool of water, he could see Chirin approach and sit nearby. He continued to drink and groom himself, only marginally paying attention to the wee mewon.

"Picantis! Alright I've decide to be your apprentice and learn to be strong just as if I was a real picantis like you!"

This gave the picantis pause, turning and looking at him.

"I'm sick of being a mewon! All we ever do is stand in corners and shake! I wanna learn to be a scary picantis just like you are! You like the idea of me becoming your apprentice don't you?"

Chirin began shaking and hid as he saw the picantis approach, following after as he passed. The picantis hopped up to another rocky outcrop, stretching and yawning before laying down. He could hear the wee mewon running up to him again, the ringing of the bell banishing any attempts to be sneaky.

"Picantis! I'd be a really great apprentice! Why don't you let me try? I'm not going to leave you alone until you say yes so why don't you wake up and listen?!"

Chirin began to hop in place, chanting "wake up!" Until he was silenced.

"Pipe down pipsqueak!" The picantis finally hissed, "what's a runt like you bothering me for?"

"I want you to teach me to be a scary picantis!"

"Do you a favor and go back to your meadow and get fat. And in a couple of months I'll have you for dinner."

"But I wanna be like you!!!" Chirin cried out, before hopping around again. "Look, if things don't work out you can go ahead and eat me! No hard feelings!"

The picantis growled from annoyance and Chirin growled right back

"Ohh you think I'm just fooling around but I'm serious!"

"Pest"

"Alright, go ahead and be that way! You'll see I'll show you just how much I wanna be a wolf!"

After that Chirin began to follow the picantis around, becoming his second shadow. He would see as the picantis would fight and hunt other bugsnax, absolutely terrified.

"Well pipsqueak, now that you've seen what it's like to be a picantis, go back to your meadow and move on."

"No! I'm never going back to that stupid meadow in a million years! I'm going to keep following you until you agree to teach me how to be like a picantis!"

And Chirin kept following, despite all the picantis's attempts to be rid of him. Dangerous terrain, scaring him, everything short of killing him. Eventually he lead him to a rough river, causing Chirin to fall in and get swept away. 

"So much for dinner," the wolf scoffed to himself.

The night after Chirin fell in the river, however, he was surprised to hear a bell approaching where he slept, and to see the bedraggled wee mewon wearing it.

"I'll follow wherever you go. I'm never going to give up. Because... Because I don't care how long it takes me. I'm going to become a picantis." The wee mewon said defiantly before collapsing.

And Chirin did not give up. He followed the wolf, though it meant day after day of constant travel. Sometimes he saw things that reminded him of his home, but he went on. Through the forest, through the meadows.

One day, he saw something shocking. An inchwrap fighting a sweetiefly to get at her eggs. As it killed her, Chirin leaped forward with a cry, going to defend the eggs. He fought the inchwrap and caused it to retreat, before noticing he had knocked the nest down, causing all the eggs to break.

"They're broken... All of them. Oh I've smashed her eggs!" He cried, starting to sob. "Why did it happen? Oh why? Why did the weak have to die? It isn't fair!"

"In order for some to live, others must die. That is the law of nature. From the moment of birth, life is one endless struggle and only the strong can survive."

"But then what can I do? I don't have fangs like a picantis so how can I fight? I can't do anything to protect myself" Chirin sobbed, still laying in front of the broken eggs. "Not a thing!"

"Why do you want to become a picantis?"

"I couldn't stand it. They all just sat there in the pasture to scared to go past the fence, too scared to do anything. I don't wanna be killed I wanna be strong!" The wee mewon sobbed out, getting up and facing the picantis.

"Good. Cry and let the anger out. It's the only way you're going to grow fangs."

"What's that? Grow fangs?" Chirin asked, looking up at the picantis.

"Yes," the picantis continued, "life deals out few things besides pain, but from that pain you'll grow sharp, strong fangs. Though they may not be the kind you can see."

"Then I can do it! If I grow fangs then nothing can stop me from being as strong as you are!"

"Then I will teach you how to live the life of a picantis. It won't be easy pipsqueak. For the world I live in is a hell, where death is always close by."

Chirin ran up to the picantis, listening closely.

"You'll need stamina, determination, and the will to survive."

"I don't care how much it takes!" Chirin shouted, "this is what I wanna do I know I can! You'll see I'll become stronger than a picantis one day I'll defeat even you!"

"Hmm... We'll see"

"I will! Someday I will defeat you!"


	3. 3

And so it came to pass, Chirin became pupil, and the picantis his teacher. Chirin's task was not easy. In order to be strong like a picantis he had to fight like one. He learned every tactic, every means possible to win, because in the end, that was all that mattered. And when Chirin learned that, he'd taken the first step in becoming a picantis. A day didn't pass that Chirin didn't suffer from the pain of his lessons. At times he thought he was going to die. But he didn't. 

~*~*~

2 years have now passed. Chirin has changed from a determined young wee mewon, into a fearsome beast. 

"So then Picantis, I am no longer a weakling mewon. Instead of fangs I have horns, which are just as sharp. My rind is harder than rock, and it has become my nature to fight without fear of death."

"I am proud of you Chirin. You are a fine warrior, even I couldn't turn you aside."

"I owe it all to you. My goal was to overcome you. The only thing I wanted was strength so I could strike down the enemy who had killed my mother. You can't imagine times I looked for the chance to kill you. But somehow I could never find one, I could never make myself do it. Living on this mountain has changed the way I think about life, and about you. For now I think of you as a father, and if the world you live in is a hell, then I'm willing to live there with you." Chirin looked down from the mountain. "Look out there. The forest, the meadows and plains. It's there for us. All of it."

And so Chirin and the picantis became a team with the reputation of ruthless killing throughout the land. They were unstoppable, charging their prey with insane recklessness. 

~*~*~

It was the night of another storm, and Chirin and the picantis were staring down at an all-too familiar meadow.

"The place of your birth. Your home."

"Home? Home... The only home I have are the plains where I hunt my prey."

"Tonight we make the attack. Will you be able to go through with it?"

"Of course I will."

"A number of bungers protect the barn they'll try to stop us from getting in. You'll have to kill all of them. Then we'll go in and kill the mewons." The picantis suddenly looked up, smelling the air. "The wind's changed direction. Go now"

And at the picantis's instruction, Chirin raced down the hill, breaking once again through the old fence. 

The picantis watched on as the fight with the bungers became a slaughter, and soon it was over. Chirin entered the barn, the mewons running to the back of the barn just like they did when he was young. Suddenly Chirin heard something that made his heart stop.

"Mama! Mama! Mama!"

It was a small wee mewon, frozen in place and calling out for her mother.

"No! My baby! Nooo!!!" Her mother cried out as she dove to protect her. Just as Chirin's mother had done, so long ago. 

"No... I can't... I can't!" Chirin cried out, running out of the barn.

"Where do you think you're going, pipsqueak?" The picantis asked, glaring at him.

"I can't do it"

"I knew you wouldn't be able to do it. This is the last thing I'll teach you, killing mewons is something even a weakling can do!" The picantis exclaimed, advancing on the barn.

"No!" Chirin shouted, blocking him from the barn, "you're not going in there! No!" He continued shouting, backing up as the picantis kept advancing. "No!... No you can't go!" Chirin charged, headbutting the picantis away. 

"Are you out of your mind pipsqueak?!" The picantis yelled as he dodged another of Chirin's charges.

"I am a mewon!" Chirin shouted, charging at him with his horns lowered. "You're the picantis that killed my mother!!!!"

Chirin had speared the picantis in the underbelly with his horns, dealing a fatal blow. They both breathed heavy, each coming to terms with what has been done.

"You have learned well," the picantis groaned out, starting to go limp, "to turn out like this is the fate of every picantis. I always knew... It would be like this. That I would die in some field at the claws of someone stronger. But I'm glad that the one who did it... Was you, Chirin. I'm proud... Of you."

The picantis fell off Chirin's horns, falling limp and dying on the muddy ground.

"No," Chirin said aloud, "I didn't want it this way, picantis."

He stood over the body with his head drooped for a long moment, before turning back towards the barn, where the other mewons stared in shock, horror, and awe. The spell was broken when a wee mewon stepped in front of the others, asking "who are you? Are you a picantis?" Before getting snatched back up by her mother, retreating with the others back behind the door.

"What- wait!" Chirin cried out, approaching them cautiously, seeing as they shut him out.

Chirin tried to tell the frightened mewons that he had once lived with them in the meadow, but nobody believed him. The creature they saw before them was not one of their kind, despite the familiar bell worn around it's neck. Chirin was neither picantis or mewon, he was a bugsnak which caused only fear and terror. He wouldn't find a home again with the mewons of his childhood, and without the picantis, Chirin realized he had no home at all.

Chirin stared at his reflection in the shallow pool. The same one the picantis had been drinking at when he first decided to become his apprentice. He saw the picantis sitting next to him in the water, but when Chirin turned to look he wasn't there.

He called out for him, eventually crying out in despair as he accepted he was alone.

"Picantis... You accepted me. You taught me how to live like you did. Forgive me. I wasn't able to become a picantis, and because of that, I was the one to cause your death. But I'm still alive! Where do I go now?! PICANTIS!!!" He cried out, as the first snow of winter fell around him, burying the landscape in white.

The snow fell for days without letting up, covering the ground in a smooth white blanket. Whatever happened on that mountain, whatever happened in the meadow, was covered up without a trace to remind those who had witnessed it. And later, some claimed to remember Chirin as a wee mewon. Others said he was a spirit from the mountain. But they were too wrapped up in their own lives to worry about it for long. And one night, during a terrible blizzard, the gentle sound of a bell was heard. But the mewons in the meadow never saw Chirin again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that's it. I hope you enjoyed.
> 
> If you haven't yet I recommend you watch the movie, I found a couple versions for free on YouTube, here's the video I referenced for the fic:
> 
> https://youtu.be/DQt8CqVPNC4


End file.
